"Time Trail,
West Virginia"
October 1997 Programs

October 1, 1896: Rural Free
Delivery introduced in Jefferson County

The first rural Americans to receive mail at home were West
Virginians. The idea of a Rural Free Delivery system for farmers
and others who lived far from cities and towns had been kicked
around for several years during the administrations of both
presidents Harrison
and Cleveland.

It was the nation's Postmaster General William Wilson who
finally delivered on it. Wilson was serving as Postmaster in
Cleveland's administration when he picked Jefferson County to be
the first in the nation to experiment with the system. It didn't
hurt that Wilson was a native son of the Jefferson County town of
Charles Town.

On October 1, 1896, five carriers began delivering mail in the
region. Three operated out of Charles Town and one each from
Halltown and Uvilla. The carriers were Harry Gibson, Frank Young,
John Lucas, Keyes Strider, and Melvin Strider.

There is no official record of which one of these men is
entitled to the honor of being the first Rural Free Delivery
carrier in the United States. The Postal Service merely lists all
of them as having carried the mail on October 1. Harry Gibson,
though, always maintained that he carried mail unofficially for
several days in August and September of that year to get acquainted
with the work and to find out how long it took to make the
rounds.

Gibson retired from the service in 1919 and was succeeded by
Vesta Watters Jones, the first woman mail carrier in West Virginia
and one of the first in the entire United States. While Gibson
delivered the mail by horseback, Jones began working the route in a
Model T Ford. She remained on the job until she officially retired
in 1961. There have only been four rural mail carriers to work the
route of Gibson and Jones.

Jefferson County was the first but not the only region to try
Rural Free Delivery. A short while after its beginnings in the
county, similar routes were established in other states. In all, 15
routes were put into operation in various parts of the country in
the month of October 1896.

Have classes devise their own postal system. Each individual
class would represent one zip code with various street addresses.
Students could take turns playing different postal roles (e.g.,
postmaster, mail carrier).

American Cyanamid's decision to prohibit women of child-bearing
age from working in production jobs at the company's plant at
Willow Island in Pleasants County stemmed from the fear that
certain chemicals might cause birth defects. In the late 1970s, the
company began enforcing a fetal protection policy and, on October
2, 1978, American Cyanamid decided that women could only be exposed
to lead. Since workers at the Willow Island plant were required to
handle many different chemicals, this fetal protection policy had
drastic consequences for women employees. Five women who worked in
the plant's pigment department believed they had to be sterilized
to keep their jobs.

In early 1979, the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspected the Willow
Island plant and fined American Cyanamid $10,000. OSHA contended the company's fetal
protection policy constituted a hazard of employment because it
had, in effect, coerced women into sterilization. It also noted
that exposure to lead at the plant was equally dangerous to men and
should be cleaned up. American Cyanamid ended up shutting down the
pigment department.

The company successfully challenged OSHA's decision the following year. A
review committee agreed to set aside the citation, concluding the
fetal protection policy was not a hazard to workers.

Meanwhile, the women who were sterilized to keep their jobs
sought legal relief and the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers union
agreed to help them appeal the case. Separately, 13 women from the
plant filed a suit against American Cyanamid, alleging violations
of the federal Civil Rights Act.

The union's case ended up before federal judge Robert Bork, who,
in 1984, found in favor of the company. Bork ruled the fetal
protection policy wasn't hazardous because the women had the option
of surgical sterilization. The civil rights case was dropped after
3 1/2 years of pre-trial proceedings. In 1983, the women accepted a
settlement from the company.

For more information

Faludi, Susan. Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American
Women, 440-452.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) played a significant
role in challenging discrimination against women in the workplace,
including the American Cyanamid case. The ACLU has traced a
History of
Women's Rights in the 20th century.

October 3, 1864: Death of John
Hanson McNeill

McNeill's Rangers, a group of Confederate guerilla soldiers,
were a thorn in the side of Union attempts to control northeastern
West Virginia. The Rangers took their name from their commander,
Captain John Hanson McNeill, a native of Hardy County.

In 1862, McNeill returned to Hardy County from Missouri and soon
received permission to organize a cavalry company. McNeill was
elected captain and he, his son Lieutenant Jesse McNeill, and some
200 partisans became the scourge of Union authorities but heroes to
southerners.

In 1864, the Partisan Ranger Act, which allowed groups like
McNeill's Rangers to exist, was suspended by the Confederate
government. The government intended for the soldiers serving in
ranger groups to rejoin the regular Confederate army but there were
two exceptions. One of them was McNeill's Rangers.

Dennis Frye, the president of the Association for the
Preservation of Civil War sites, says the southern government
allowed McNeill and his men to continue to serve as rangers because
they were so successful.

Frye: He knew how to fight. He knew how to plan. He
knew how to extricate himself out of difficult situations. He knew
how to produce good results.

On October 3, 1864, McNeill was wounded during a raid in
Virginia's Shenandoah Valley near Mt. Jackson. He had intended to
destroy a bridge that allowed the Valley Pike, today's Route 11, to
continue across the North Branch of the Shenandoah River. The raid
was unsuccessful and McNeill was badly hurt.

Frye: He was taken to a home nearby, about a mile
away--the Weller residence--and the Federals came looking for him.
They came there, saw a wounded Confederate officer, and he was not
immediately identified as McNeill. The Weller family realized that
he was on short time and certainly he was a hunted man--they wanted
him badly--and, if they didn't something to disguise McNeill, he
would be quickly recognized. So they cut his beard-- he had a very
long beard--they cut his long flowing hair as well, pretty much
made him look like a whole new man. When the Federals would return,
they did not recognize him. They would return several times and not
recognize him. In fact, they even came with one of McNeill's former
rangers who had decided he had had enough of the war. The Union
troops brought him there and, although he recognized McNeill, he
did not tell the Yankees that it was McNeill.

McNeill didn't reveal himself until Major General Philip
Sheridan, the commander of Union forces operating in the Shenandoah
Valley at the time, came to see him.

Frye: And Sheridan had respect for him. Sheridan did
not force him to be moved and, as a result, he would die there
quietly about five weeks after his mortal wound. He would be buried
in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and, in 1865, the McNeill Rangers would
come and remove him from Harrisonburg and take him to Moorefield,
where he is buried today.

Guerilla warfare was an effective tool for Confederates. Often,
independent military organizations like McNeill's Rangers proved
more loyal to the Confederacy than regular troops. Many of
McNeill's Rangers continued to elude federal forces for nearly a
month after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia.

What is the primary difference between the Union and
Confederate sides?

What was guerilla warfare and why was it so effective for
Confederates?

October 6, 1981: Former Gov.
Moore testifies about the Buffalo Creek lawsuit

The state's $1 million settlement of a lawsuit against the
Pittston Coal Company over the Buffalo Creek disaster raised
eyebrows among those who saw it as less than sufficient. The state
had sued Pittston for $100 million after a company-owned dam on
Buffalo Creek in Logan County gave way in 1972. The break sent more
than 130 million gallons of water down the Buffalo Creek hollow.
The violent flood killed 125, injured another 1,100, and left over
4,000 homeless. Authorities estimated property damage at $50
million.

The state wanted to use half of the $100 million to pay for
flood relief efforts, but just before he concluded his second term
as governor, Arch Moore announced
the $1 million settlement.

On October 6, 1981, West Virginia lawmakers called on Governor
Moore to testify at a hearing to explain why such a small
settlement had been negotiated. Moore said he had no choice but to
agree to it.

Moore: I simply could not have said no if I wanted to.
I was incidental, simply sitting in the chair. I am not the law
enforcement officer in terms of instituting legal suits in the
state of West Virginia and the matters in that particular regard
are defined and well drawn.

Pittston's legal troubles over the Buffalo Creek disaster
weren't limited to its settlement with the state. Other lawsuits
were filed. In 1974, the company agreed to split $13.5 million
among about 600 flood survivors and family members of victims.

In 1988, the state finally agreed to repay the federal
government $9.5 million to cover clean-up costs plus interest.

October 7, 1763: Proclamation of
1763

When the French & Indian War finally came to an end with
victory for England, pioneers were chomping at the bit to cross the
mountains of what is now West Virginia and make their way into the
Ohio Valley. But the English government feared another Indian war
and didn't want the fur trade disrupted. So, on October 7, the king
of England announced what is called the Proclamation of 1763, which
prohibited settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains.

The proclamation became a sore point with the pioneers. Land
speculators who wanted to exploit the Ohio Valley weren't happy
about it either. So, two Indian superintendents were enlisted by
the British to enforce the proclamation. Sir William
Johnson was given charge of the territory north of the Ohio
River. Colonel John Stuart was responsible for territory further
south.

Although the proclamation forbade settlements west of the
mountains, it didn't permanently shut the door on westward
migration. One of it provisions allowed for the boundary to be
moved farther west and eventually it was.

In 1768, Johnson
and Stuart worked out two treaties with the Indians. Stuart signed
the Treaty of Hard Labour with the Cherokees and Johnson signed the
Treaty of Fort Stanwix with the Iroquois. Except for extreme
southern West Virginia, the treaties opened the Ohio Valley to
settlement. And in the spring of 1769, settlers began streaming
over the mountains by the hundreds.

The Proclamation of 1763 temporarily ended much of the violence
on the western Virginia frontier. Although the proclamation stopped
most settlers from moving westward, land speculators such as George
Washington violated the king's order and claimed large portions of
western Virginia for themselves.

When was the Proclamation of 1763 dropped?

Who violated the Proclamation during the years it was in
effect?

What communities and regions were settled rapidly after the
Proclamation was dropped?

October 8, 1764: Birth of Harman
Blennerhassett

Like most immigrants to American shores, Harman Blennerhassett
was in search of a new life. But he was eventually forced to flee
his stately home in the Ohio Valley with his reputation
shattered.

Blennerhassett was born into a wealthy Irish family on October
8, 1764. He and his wife Margaret immigrated to America and chose
an Ohio River island near present-day Parkersburg to build their
elegant mansion. The island drew a steady stream of notable guests,
including former Vice President Aaron Burr. Burr was known for his
fiery temper and had even killed political rival Alexander Hamilton
in a duel.

In 1806, Burr persuaded the Blennerhassetts to join him in a
scheme to carve an empire out of the western territories of the
United States and part of Mexico. But the plot was doomed.

Historian Ray Swick says that Burr's old rival President
Thomas Jefferson learned of the plot and ordered the arrests of
Burr and Blennerhassett.

Swick: He had heard of all the secret military activity
that was centered around Blennerhassett Island and extended down
the Mississippi and up the Ohio. Hating Burr with a passion, he
decided that this must be treasonous even though we now have
evidence that even before Burr was brought to heel that Jefferson
knew that it was--the Burr expedition--was merely a filibustering
expedition which is when a private citizen of one country raises a
private army and invades another.

Harman Blennerhassett initially escaped authorities but was
eventually captured in Lexington, Kentucky, and sent to Richmond,
Virginia. He was let go after the Supreme Court acquitted Burr of
treason. Although he was cleared of all charges, Blennerhassett
lost his vast fortune and lived most of the remainder of his life
destitute. He died on an island off the coast of England in
1831.

The Wheeling Intelligencer newspaper took an early stance
for statehood during the Civil War, largely through the efforts of
its editor Archibald Campbell. Campbell became editor on October 9,
1856 and transformed the paper into a powerful advocate for
Republican politics, despite the relative unpopularity of the party
in northwestern Virginia.

The paper struggled to survive in the early days of Campbell's
control, but when the Civil War broke out, it took the lead in
calling for a new state. As editor, Campbell was in a position to
help unite western Virginians against the government at Richmond.
Early in the war, western Virginians created a restored Virginia
state government, loyal to the Union. It was based in Wheeling.

Retired Bethany College administrator Bob Sandercox says Francis
Pierpont, the governor of the Restored Government, once attributed
West Virginia's statehood to Campbell.

Sandercox: President Lincoln had told Governor Pierpont
that it was Archibald Campbell's dispatch that caused him to sign
the bill, even against the recommendation of his own cabinet. So,
he has, from time to time, been called the "father of the state." I
think that is not generally recognized today, but there must be a
sense of truth about--the fact the first governor would be quoted
as having said that.

Campbell is considered one of West Virginia's founders despite
never having held public office in the state.

Sandercox: When it came time to get involved himself in
politics, he always seemed to shy away. In fact, some of the
articles of the time suggested that this may have been a weakness
of his-- that he was unduly timid. While he was in the newspaper
business, he hated to have anything about him reported in the paper
and he never utilized any of his friendships to secure government
positions for himself.

Campbell achieved national prominence in the Republican party
during the party's convention of 1880, when he helped prevent
Ulysses Grant from receiving the Republican nomination to run for a
third term as president. In 1882, Campbell sold the Wheeling
Intelligencer and retired. He died in Missouri in 1899.

For Discussion

Newspapers and magazines often represent a particular political
view. The Intelligencer helped sway public opinion to
support statehood.

Select a topic in local or national news. Examine how different
newspapers and magazines treat these issues. Why are there
differences?

October 10, 1774: The Battle of
Point Pleasant

The Battle of Point Pleasant is sometimes called the first
battle of the Revolutionary War even though it was fought during
Lord Dunmore's War, one of a series of colonial wars. The battle at
Point Pleasant was the only important engagement of Dunmore's
War.

The battle began when Shawnee chief Cornstalk secretly led about
1,200 Indians to attack about 800 Virginians under Andrew Lewis.
Lewis' army was part of a larger force planning to attack Indian
settlements in Ohio. It reached Point Pleasant in early October
1774, where it encamped on the point between the Ohio and Kanawha
rivers.

The Indians' surprise attack was foiled when they were detected
by two soldiers who were hunting the morning of October 10. Even
with the element of surprise lost, the Virginians had little time
to prepare. The fighting was largely hand to hand over a line of
about a mile in length. Both armies used logs, brushwood, and
anything they could find for shelter from enemy fire.

The fighting went on throughout the morning and into the
afternoon. Late in the day, Lewis was able to flank the Indians.
They gave ground and retreated across the Ohio River to protect
their villages.

Thirty-three Shawnee were killed while the Virginians lost 60
killed and 96 wounded. The battle was considered a victory for the
Virginians and resulted in the Treaty of Camp Charlotte in which
members of the Delaware, Shawnee, and Mingo tribes relinquished
claims on land south of the Ohio River. The terms of the treaty
were dictated by Virginia Governor John Murray, the Earl of
Dunmore. The treaty effectively eliminated the Indians as a major
threat to western Virginia settlements for the first two years of
the Revolutionary War and helped clear the way for peaceful
settlement of the region.

Because of Point Pleasant, the American Continental Army faced
little opposition from Native Americans for the first 2 years of
the Revolutionary War. Point Pleasant also unified colonists.
Andrew Lewis' army was one of the first American armies. Although
they served a British governor, the soldiers were fighting for
Virginia.

What were the Shawnee fighting for?

What happened to Cornstalk after the battle?

October 13, 1863: The Battle of
Bulltown

Perhaps no other Civil War battle fought in West Virginia came
as close to being "brother against brother" than the battle at
Bulltown in Braxton County. Soldiers on both sides of the battle
were born within the borders of West Virginia. In fact, two of the
units that took part in the battle, one Union and one Confederate,
were recruited out of nearby Calhoun County and both units
contained men who had seen service before the war in that county's
militia.

The battle was fought October 13, 1863, when about 700
Confederates under the command of Colonel William L. Jackson
attacked a strongly fortifies Union outpost in a hilltop at
Bulltown. By this time, Jackson had acquired the nickname
"Mudwall," a reference to his more famous cousin "Stonewall"
Jackson.

"Mudwall" Jackson, who would soon be promoted to brigadier
general, intended to take Bulltown and then stage a raid toward the
Ohio River similar to the Jones-Imboden raid earlier that year and
Albert Gallatin Jenkins's raid in the fall of 1862. But it didn't
work out that way. The Confederates bungled an early morning
surprise attack on Bulltown and Union commander William Mattingly
was too stubborn to concede. Even in the face of superior numbers,
he refused to surrender his command of only seven officers and 117
soldiers. Mattingly was wounded early in the battle, so when
Colonel Jackson again demanded the Union troops' surrender, it fell
to Captain James Simpson of the 11th West Virginia Infantry to
answer. He sent word to Colonel Jackson that hell would freeze over
before he surrendered and if he had to retreat he would do so on
the ice.

When Colonel Jackson finally retreated after 12 hours of
fighting, not one Union soldier was killed, although two were
wounded, including Captain Mattingly. Seven Confederates were
killed and Jackson had to leave behind six of his men who were too
badly wounded to be moved. One of them died later. The stand the
Union soldiers made at Bulltown may not have had much impact on the
Civil War, but it kept Jackson from reaching the Ohio and, at the
same time, helped maintain the Union's hold on West Virginia
territory.

For more information

Howe, Barbara J. "The Civil War at Bulltown." West Virginia
History 44(1982): 1-40.

October 14, 1947: Chuck Yeager
Breaks the Sound Barrier

When West Virginia native Chuck Yeager climbed into the X-1
research plane October 14, 1947, he had no idea the sound barrier
would be broken that day. But when the day was over, Yeager had
launched the era of supersonic flight.

When Yeager retired in 1975, the Air Force made a short film
about his career. He was interviewed on the day of his last flight
as an active Air Force officer.

Interviewer: You've flown everything in the Air Force
inventory. Today was your last flight. What kind of thoughts did
you have today coming up here?

Yeager: It's fun but it's also a job. It's something that gets
in your blood because of the different kinds of airplanes I've
flown all over the world. But you still get a thrill out of flying
any kind of an airplane, really.

Interviewer: Did you have a thrill when you were up there
today?

Yeager: Oh yea.

Chuck Yeager was born in the Lincoln County town of Myra in 1923
and grew up in nearby Hamlin. During World War II, he was shot down
over Nazi-occupied France but managed to escape with the help of
the French Resistance. After the war, those who had been shot down
in combat were allowed to choose their next assignment.

Yeager: I selected . . . I really got a map and looked
at Hamlin, West Virginia--where I was born, where my mother and
father lived--and that was Wright Field in Dayton,
Ohio.

Yeager was then chosen as the primary pilot for the X-1 project
over more senior Army Air Corps officers. And on the day he broke
the sound barrier, he flew with two cracked ribs. The ribs were
broken two days earlier during a horse riding accident.

Chuck Yeager's flight 50 years ago began the era of supersonic
flight, opening the door to space navigation.

Create a timeline of air and space flight in the 20th century.
How important was breaking the sound barrier?

October 15, 1954: Integration of
West Virginia's teachers' associations

Black students weren't the only ones who had to deal with being
integrated into the sometimes hostile white schools of the 1950s.
Their teachers were ontegrated, too. Many of those teachers were
members of the West Virginia State Teachers Association which was
created on Thanksgiving Day, 1891, at Simpson United Methodist
Church in Charleston. It came to an end as an organization for
black teachers when it merged with the West Virginia Education
Association (WVEA) on October 15, 1954. Louise Anderson, a former
member of the State Teachers Association, remembers it fondly.

Anderson: But then, as the time went on, they saw the
need to merge and I think that took something out of that. It took
some of that getting together in that respect. It wasn't the same,
I don't think. However, it was . . . the merger was needed, but I
think also the other was needed too.

After the merger, there was little black involvement in the
WVEA. By 1972, only one black person, Dr. Harrison Ferrell, the
dean of West Virginia State College, had served on the executive
committee. But that year, at the National Education Association
delegate assembly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, West Virginia's
black teachers decided to form a black caucus.

Anderson: We got together because we could not get
those offices in there unless we pulled together. And so we got
together and formed this caucus and we earned . . . I think we
earned respect through that caucus because we didn't have any
problem once we got in.

In 1973, Anderson appeared before the WVEA's executive committee
as the chair of the black caucus and made recommendations to foster
more minority involvement in the organization. The next year,
Roberta Boggs became the second black person to serve on the
executive committee and, in 1977, Harold Smith, a teacher from
McDowell County, became the first black president of the WVEA.

October 16, 1859: John Brown's
raid on Harpers Ferry

Harpers Ferry was a sleepy town in the Shenandoah Valley in
1859. But John Brown made it the focal point of the nation. Brown's
dramatic raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry began on
October 16. It was designed to spark a rebellion among black slaves
but it ended in tragedy. Bruce Noble, the historian at Harpers Ferry National
Historical Park, says Brown had a deep commitment to the
liberation of this country's slaves.

Noble: The story of John Brown in Harpers Ferry began
on October 16, 1859, but the real story of John Brown began much
earlier than that. He had been an abolitionist who was opposed to
slavery primarily on religious grounds and had done a lot to try to
prevent the spread of slavery throughout his life and the
culmination of all his activities was his attempt to capture the
armory here in Harpers Ferry.

Brown's objective was to take all the armory's weapons, turn
them over to the region's slaves and start the rebellion.

Noble: I think John Brown really had a conviction that
the slaves were just ready to rebel against their masters if given
the slightest opportunity to do so. And he came to find out the
situation was not exactly the way he had envisioned it. I think the
other thing he may not have anticipated was the people of the town
of Harpers Ferry actually rose up against him. They were not happy
to see him taking over the armory, which, after all, was where they
worked and where they made their livelihood. So, a lot of people
from the community came out with their own personal weapons and
participated in the fight against John Brown and had a good deal to
do with stopping him from being successful.

Brown and the approximately 20 men he led were forced to take
refuge in the armory's firehouse where federal
troops under the command of Robert E. Lee captured him. Several of
Brown's men were killed in the raid while some escaped. Seven,
including Brown, were later hanged.

Based on religious convictions that slavery was wrong, John
Brown captured a United States weapons factory and killed innocent
people. Many northerners saw Brown as a hero while most southerners
considered him a murderer.

Why did some people consider John Brown a hero? Why did others
consider him a villain?

October 17, 1911: Hatfield
brothers killed in shootout

The violence of the Hatfield-McCoy feud was responsible for the
deaths of five of Randolph McCoy's children. But "Devil Anse," the
patriarch of the Hatfield clan, never had to grieve over the loss
of a child as a direct result of the feud, although two of his sons
were killed later in a gunfight with an Italian immigrant.

Before the gunfight with Octavo Gerome, the Hatfield brothers,
Troy and Elias, recognized the enormous money making potential of
the saloon business in the Fayette County coalfields. So they
invested in one of the only bars in the area. In a 1950s article in
the Charleston Daily Mail, a former bartender for the
Hatfields said the Hatfield saloon often took in $3,000 on paydays
and never less than $300 a night.

The Hatfields guarded their investment fiercely, so when Carl
Hanson opened a bar at nearby Cannelton they took steps to protect
it. They cut a deal with with Hanson to stay out of each other's
territory. But despite warnings from the Hatfields, an employee of
Hanson's, Octavo Gerome, continued to sell beer and liquor in the
Boomer area.

On October 17, 1911, Gerome expected trouble when he saw the
Hatfields approaching his home at Harewood, near the town of
Smithers. Before the Hatfields had time to act, Gerome killed Elias
and fatally wounded Troy. Before he died, though, Troy managed to
shoot and kill Gerome.

Violent incidents like this fueled the debate over the
immorality of drinking. West Virginians voted in 1912 to outlaw the
sale and consumption of alcohol.

For more information

About this incident: Rice, Otis K. The Hatfield and The
McCoys, 121-122; Charleston Gazette, October 10,
1975.

October 20, 1926: Scandal of
State Auditor John C. Bond

When Pendleton County native John Bond entered public office in
1914, he was considered one of West Virginia's most promising young
politicians but his career ended in disgrace. Bond was a veteran of
the Spanish-American War who rose to the rank of major during World
War I. After being elected State Auditor in 1920 and again in 1924,
Bond was forced from office. Governor Howard
Gore suspended him October 20, 1926, amid allegations he
laundered state funds.

Governor Gore had begun investigating Bond's activities the
previous spring. State Treasurer W. S. Johnson had discovered Bond
was issuing checks to his relatives and others who did not work for
the state. Bond was also charged with issuing checks to fictitious
people. Statehouse employees then cashed the checks and returned
the money to the auditor. Bond refused to explain any checks issued
before Gore took office in March 1925.

In January 1927, the House of Delegates voted to impeach Bond
but he resigned in March before the Senate was able to oust him.
Gore appointed an assistant, Sam
Mallison, as the new auditor. Bond suffered a breakdown at the end
of the long ordeal. After a brief stay at Huntington State
Hospital, he was convicted of embezzlement and larceny of state
funds and sentenced to six years in the State Penitentiary.

October 21, 1918: Birth of
Governor Hulett C. Smith

When Hulett Smith left the Governor's Mansion in 1969, state law
wouldn't allow him to run for another consecutive term.

Smith: I probably would have liked to have been able to
succeed myself but, of course, at that time, you were limited to a
single term. Since that time, I've kept my interest in politics but
I've never wanted to seek another office.

Hulett Smith was born in Beckley on October 21, 1918. After
World War II, he developed an interest in politics which led him to
the chairmanship of the state Democratic party. In 1960, Smith ran
for governor for the first time. He lost the primary election but
stayed on as party chairman and then became West Virginia's first
commerce commissioner in the administration of the election's
eventual winner Governor Wally Barron.
In 1964, Smith won the Governor's Mansion by a majority of more
than 77,000 votes

One of the first proposals to come out of the Smith
administration was the abolition of the death penalty.

Smith: I was very much in favor of that and still am.
There's no way that I personally could justify the idea that the
death penalty was appropriate in the way our system of justice
worked.

Proposals to improve West Virginia's public schools and to
continue road building projects were advanced during Hulett Smith's
administration. His tenure also brought passage of West Virginia's
first minimum wage act, the nation's toughest strip mining law, and
an enforceable human rights act.

Smith: I think that I'd be most proud of the fact that
we got control of state government. Everybody had a fair shot at
things- -the improvements that we've gotten in roads and schools,
education, the balancing of many cross purposes I think. So when I
left, I was sort of . . . thought we'd accomplished a great deal
and the people of West Virginia gained a great deal.

Hulett Smith's term as governor came to a close January 13,
1969. Afterward, he returned to his insurance business in Beckley
and still serves on many state boards.

Governor Smith considered elimination of the death penalty to
be one of his greatest accomplishments. Do you believe the death
penalty should be legal? What are arguments for and against?

October 22, 1977: Opening of the
New River Gorge Bridge

When the New River Gorge Bridge opened to traffic October 22,
1977, it was hailed by Senator Jennings Randolph and Governor
Jay Rockefeller as a link to West
Virginia's past and the state's future.

Randolph: It is a fitting monument to a modern,
prosperous West Virginia.

Rockefeller: The opening of this bridge will bring our people of
the South and our people of the North in our state closer together
than ever before. It will give us not only new transportation but
new lifeblood. But we must never forget the heritage and the
history of which we all are merely trustees.

The opening of the New River Gorge Bridge was a much anticipated
event. Three former governors--Okey
Patteson, Hulett Smith, and
Arch Moore--joined Senator Randolph,
Governor Rockefeller, and other
dignitaries for the bridge's dedication ceremony. Thousands showed
up for a chance to be among the first to walk across it.

Boy: I've walked across it three times.

Reporter: What do you think of it?

Boy: It's nice. It's high.

Man: Well, the bridge means a lot to us. We live in Shady Spring
and we have property in Summersville and we'll be able to commute a
lot faster.

Reporter: So what do you think of the bridge? It's pretty
impressive?

Man: Oh, it's real impressive. We're glad to see it open.

Woman: Oh my, I've lived here all my life. It means so much to
me.

The New River Gorge Bridge took four years and about $37 million
to build. One man lost his life during construction and seven
others were injured. The bridge stands 875 feet above the New
River, the second highest bridge above water in North America and,
at 3,030 feet, it's the world's longest steel arch bridge. The
bridge has revitalized the New River Gorge region, which now boasts
a thriving tourist and whitewater rafting industry.

October 23, 1890: "Wreck on the
C&O"

Among the many folk songs that memorialize railroad disasters,
one of the most popular is "The Wreck on the C&O." The song
recounts the death of George Alley, who saved passengers' lives
after a train wreck near the Summers County town of Hinton.

In 1890, George Alley was a 30-year-old engineer from a
railroading family. His father and five brothers all worked for the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. Early on the morning of October 23,
Alley took over as conductor for the train that included the "Fast
Flying Virginian," the C&O's first luxury name train. It ran
daily between New York, Washington, and Cincinnati. The train was
running late when it left Hinton before daylight so Alley may have
pushed the engine to go faster than normal. As it turned out, he
never made it to the next stop. Just a few miles outside Hinton
along the Greenbrier River, Alley's train slammed into a huge
boulder that had fallen onto the tracks. Mail and baggage cars were
derailed.

Alley, severely injured, was pinned inside the engine. For five
hours, the engineer slipped in and out of consciousness, asking for
his family, as rescue workers struggled to free him. Alley's wife
and four children arrived from Clifton Forge, Virginia, just after
he died.

The passengers and press hailed George Alley as a hero. If he
hadn't stayed with the engine to slow it down, the passenger cars
may have tumbled into the Greenbrier River. George Alley is buried
at the Greenbrier Baptist Church at Alderson.

October 24, 1861: First Statehood
Referendum

When Virginia decided to secede from the union at the beginning
of the Civil War, John Carlile started agitating for the creation
of a new state loyal to the union. Carlile is considered to be one
of the founders of West Virginia even though he voted against
statehood.

Carlile was a lawyer who began practicing law in the Randolph
County town of Beverly. He served in the Virginia State Senate and
U.S. Congress and was instrumental in securing a teaching
appointment to the Virginia Military Institute for Thomas Jackson,
of Stonewall Jackson fame.

When the Civil War began, Carlile disagreed with Jackson and
became a vigorous leader of those who wished to create what is now
West Virginia. During the First Wheeling Convention, Carlile
presented a resolution to separate northwestern Virginia from the
rest of the state. The resolution was opposed by more conservative
delegates to the convention so a compromise was ultimately reached.
During the second convention, Carlile offered what's called a
"Declaration of the People of Virginia," which condemned Virginia's
secession and proposed a reorganized Virginia state government
loyal to the union.

The reorganized government elected Carlile as its first senator
and he was appointed to a post on the Committee on Territories,
which gave him great influence on the preparation of a bill for the
admission of West Virginia into the union.

When Carlile's colleague, Senator Waitman Willey, presented the
proposal for a new state to the Senate, it was referred to the
Committee on Territories. Carlile was expected to act quickly to
draft a statehood bill and submit it in time for Congress to act on
it. But he delayed for nearly a month and, when it was finally
reported out of the committee, the original proposal had been
altered. A major revision was the inclusion of the secessionist
counties of the Shenandoah Valley, a proposal which went against
the wishes of the people of northwestern Virginia. It was the
general opinion of many that Carlile was determined to defeat the
proposal and it became the task of Senator Willey to secure West
Virginia's admission into the union.

Carlile never revealed his reasons for reversing his stand on
the statehood issue. He died in Clarksburg, October 24, 1878,
seventeen years to the day after western Virginia approved the
formation of a new state.

John Carlile was one of the most outspoken supporters of forming
a pro-union government of Virginia. But he eventually voted against
the creation of West Virginia.

Why do you think Carlile changed his views?

October 27, 1937: Death of
newspaper publisher Livia Simpson Poffenbarger

Long before women won the right to vote, Livia Nye Simpson made
her presence felt in West Virginia politics. Simpson was a native
of Pt. Pleasant who emerged on the political scene at the 1888
state Democratic Convention. Despite opposition from party leaders,
Simpson demanded a platform and spoke in support of a Mason County
Supreme Court nominee.

Shortly after the convention, Simpson acquired her hometown
Republican newspaper, the State Gazette. The Gazette
had been struggling financially but she purchased new printing
equipment and successfully increased the paper's circulation. At
the age of 26, Simpson was one of the youngest female newspaper
publishers in the country.

In 1894, Simpson married Mason County lawyer George
Poffenbarger, an influential figure in the Republican party.
Although her husband had misgivings, Livia Simpson Poffenbarger
stood her ground and continued publishing the State
Gazette.

Poffenbarger's other consuming interest was the state's first
chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Under
Poffenbarger's leadership, the Charles Lewis Chapter of the DAR
focused its energy on commemorating the October 1774 Battle of Pt.
Pleasant. In 1901, the chapter created Tu-Endie-Wei Park on the
site of the battle.

Poffenbarger believed Pt. Pleasant should be recognized
nationally as the first battle of the Revolutionary War although
most historians give this distinction to the April 1775 skirmishes
at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. Her perseverance paid off
when Congress appropriated $10,000 in 1908 for a statue honoring
Pt. Pleasant as the first battle.

Poffenbarger played an active role in civic and political
affairs throughout her life, even after she sold the State
Gazette in 1913. During World I, she organized a liberty loan
campaign that was used throughout the nation. Poffenbarger also
served as director of the West Virginia Suffrage campaign although
she did not actively support a woman's right to vote.

Livia Simpson Poffenbarger died on October 27, 1937, at the age
of 75.

On recognition of the Battle of Pt. Pleasant: Kerby, Robert L.
"The Other War in 1774: Dunmore's War." West Virginia
History 36(October 1974): 1-16; "`Manufactured History': Re-
Fighting the Battle of Point Pleasant." West Virginia
History 56(1997): 76-87.

October 28, 1935: Last 20
families move to the Arthurdale resettlement community

The Preston County community of Arthurdale can trace its roots
back to 1790, but it's better known as a Depression-era project of
the Roosevelt administration.

The Arthurdale Homestead Project began in 1933. It was the first
of nearly 100 planned rural communities created nationwide to
relieve the Great Depression. Congress appropriated $25 million for
subsistence homesteads in the area and bought Richard Arthur's
estate and other tracts of land totaling 2,400 acres.

The idea was to make Arthurdale a self-sustained community,
where unemployed miners and their families could live, work, and
raise their own food. The people selected to live on the Arthurdale
homesteads were carefully screened for their ability to work, their
need, and their health. Most of the original 50 homesteading
families came from Preston and neighboring Monongalia counties. The
last 20 moved to Arthurdale on October 28, 1935.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt showed a keen interest in
Arthurdale and adopted it as one of her projects. Annabelle Mayer,
who moved to Arthurdale with her family in 1934 and has lived there
since, remembers Eleanor Roosevelt fondly.

Mayer: Knowing her as well as I do . . . did . . . I
know she was a caring person and a great lady. I personally
hesitate to think what my life would have been like had I not had
the opportunity to come to Arthurdale to live.

Mayer was a freshman in high school when she moved to
Arthurdale. When she graduated in 1938, President Franklin
Roosevelt came to Arthurdale to speak. It was his only visit to the
town.

Mayer: Mrs. Roosevelt had tried to get the president to
come to Arthurdale because she was proud of Arthurdale. And so, I
think every year, when we had a graduating class, she did come to
be our speaker. And the year that--in '38--we had invited her and
she had accepted. But she also wrote us a little note and said I
think if you would invite the president, he would
come.

The government finally withdrew its involvement in Arthurdale
when World War II broke out and sold the houses it had built to the
families renting them. About 1,000 men were employed during
Arthurdale's construction. The cost of the project exceeded $2
million.

Presbyterian missionary Mary Behner worked in the Scotts Run
region of Monongalia County. Many of the new residents of
Arthurdale came from this coal mining region, which had been hit
particularly hard by the Depression. Her diary details life on Scotts Run
during the Depression.

Describe the life of a child from a coal-mining family prior to
moving to Arthurdale.

What other actions did the government take to improve the lives
of people during the Depression?

Discuss how the role of the First Lady has changed during the
20th century.

October 29, 1975: Unveiling of
statue of State AFL-CIO President Miles Stanley

When Miles Stanley, one of West Virginia's most important labor
leaders, died suddenly of a heart attack in 1974, Joe Powell became
the next president of the West Virginia Labor Federation,
AFL-CIO.

Powell: I was fortunate to work with him for about 6
years before I took this job. He's my mentor, so to speak. He
brought me into the organization and gave me the opportunities that
brought me to this office.

Powell, who retired earlier this month, says Miles Stanley
became the State Labor Federation's first president when it
organized in 1957.

Powell: I think that at the time it was very difficult
to bring the old AFL and the CIO into a merger agreement. And he
did it and did it very smoothly and very effectively. Of course,
that in essence brought the organization into being with much more
membership and much more effective than the 2 organizations had
been.

Stanley began his career as a machinist and served as recording
secretary of a local union lodge in Dunbar in Kanawha County. In
1943, he joined the army and served in World War II in Europe. When
Stanley left the army, he rejoined the labor movement as a member
of the United Steelworkers union. And, by 1947, he was president of
the union's local in Dunbar. In 1965, Stanley was selected to serve
as an assistant to the national AFL-CIO president George Meany.

Powell: He went to Washington and worked with Meany--I
think it was about 3 years-- and, at one time, he was one of the 3
possible successors to Meany. Then, Meany hung on for about another
15 years.

While he was in Washington, Stanley continued to serve as the
West Virginia Labor Federation's president but, in 1967, he decided
he'd had enough. He came back to West Virginia and continued as the
state organization's president until his death in 1974.

Powell: Well, it was a real blow because it was
unexpected and you know he had a heart attack and he was such a
tremendous figure that he couldn't be replaced,
really.

On October 29, 1975, the State Labor Federation honored Stanley
by changing the name of its new office building in Charleston to
the Miles C. Stanley Building. During the ceremonies, Stanley's
daughter, Terri, unveiled a sculpture of her father.

October 30, 1849: Completion of
the Wheeling Bridge

During the nineteenth century, a bitter fight brewed between the
cities of Wheeling, Virginia, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, over a
suspension bridge. Wheeling had become known as the Nail City
because of its iron works and expressed the ambition to become the
leading manufacturing center of the West. Its rival was
Pittsburgh.

In 1836, a wooden bridge was built from Wheeling Island across
the west channel of the Ohio River to the Ohio shore. But when a
bill in Congress urged constructing a bridge from the city of
Wheeling across the east channel of the river to Wheeling Island,
it met opposition from Pittsburgh. Congress wanted to facilitate
trade and travel on the historic National Road but Pittsburgh
contended successfully before the U.S. Supreme Court that such a
bridge would interfere with river navigation. Pittsburgh feared
that chimneys on packet boats would not be able to pass under it.
Despite a restraining order, the bridge was finished on October 30,
1849. Wheeling sought relief from Congress, which ordered the
height of steamboat chimneys be governed by the clearance of
bridges.

In 1854, the bridge was destroyed by a wind storm and the legal
battle began again as soon as work on a replacement was started.
Pittsburgh again appealed to the Supreme Court but, this time,
Wheeling won. The new bridge was completed in 1856. At the time, it
was the first suspension bridge of its kind in the world and, until
the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge, was the longest in the
country. Today, it is the oldest suspension bridge still in use and
a National Landmark.

The completion of the National Road and its extension across the
Ohio River enabled Wheeling to become the second largest city in
Virginia prior to the Civil War.

Why was transportation so important to the economy of towns in
the 1800s? How is transportation used today to benefit the
economy?

October 31, 1859: John Brown's
Trial

By the time John Brown's raid on the arsenal and arms factories
at Harpers Ferry ended, 4 of his men had been killed, including 2
of his sons. Brown had planned to take the guns he found at Harpers
Ferry and spark a slave rebellion. But instead, he and 6 others
were quickly charged with treason or murder. Bruce Noble, the
historian at the Harpers
Ferry National Historical Park, says it was a very tense time
for this nation.

Noble: There was a lot of sectional tension between
North and South and a lot of feeling that maybe this was in fact
the event that was ultimately going to lead to Civil War. The South
was very interested in seeing Brown executed quickly and the North,
of course, was interested in seeing him freed and not executed. So,
in order to prevent any kind of guerilla raid from the North that
was intended to free Brown from jail a number of soldiers were
brought to Charles Town to be on duty there during the time of the
trial and also during the days leading up to his execution to
prevent any kind of rebellion breaking out that was intended to
free Brown.

Brown's trial at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Charles Town
attracted the eyes of the nation. He lay on a cot, covered with a
blanket, during the proceedings because he had not yet recovered
from the wounds he suffered during the Harpers Ferry raid.

On October 31, 1859, just 15 days after the raid began, Brown
was found guilty on all counts. Two days later, at his sentencing,
Brown gave an eloquent speech before the court, in which he
reiterated his desire to free the slaves but rejected all the other
charges that had been leveled against him. Brown said he was ready
to give up his life for his cause. He was hanged in Charles Town on
December 2nd.